


critical hit

by reptilianraven



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Pokemon AU, as in they play Pokemon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-17 23:49:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10604868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reptilianraven/pseuds/reptilianraven
Summary: ”Victor is certainly an incredible player, but his opponent might just give him a run for his money.””I totally agree. Victor’s opponent, seventeen year old Yuuri Katsuki representing Japan, is one of the most interesting players this championship has ever seen.”-Yuuri brings a Pachirisu to the Pokemon Video Game World Championship Finals and rocks Victor’s world.





	

**Author's Note:**

> rushed and speed written in like one day. i just needed this idea out of my head so i could sleep in peace.
> 
> based on/modeled after the [2014 Pokemon VG World Championships Master Rank Finals](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOx_Qdc6bqw) aka the one with Se Jun Park and his legendary Pachirisu. i know close to nothing about the Pokemon VG World Championships aside from this video, so if i sound like a noob, it’s cuz i totally am.
> 
> u dont need to watch [the vid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOx_Qdc6bqw) to get this fic (but i Highly Recommend it bc it’s a RIDE) since this fic is more awkward teen flirting than pokemon. all u need to know is that a Pachirisu, a tiny cutesy pokemon, is a pretty rare sight in the VG championship, and this Pachirisu annihilated the entire world.

“Yuri!” Victor says the moment he manages to find his baby cousin. Yuri spots him and looks like he wants to bolt, but he’s short, eleven years old, and the the event venue is crowded; he’d never survive. Victor uses the opportunity to wrap his arms Yuri and lift him up into a hug. 

“Congratulations on winning Juniors!” Victor says, spinning him around, laughing, ignoring Yuri’s pre-teen screeches of indignation. 

“Put me down you fucking _dick_.” Victor only does so because Yuri started flailing his arms around and he’d rather not end up with a black eye right before his own finals. Yuri hops to the floor like a furious cat and glares at Victor. “You’re the worst person ever.”

Which translates roughly to _hello_ in Yuri-speak. He pats Yuri’s head, “You did great out there. It was a good battle.”

“Whatever. It was easy. Everybody else in the bracket were like, dumb babies,” Yuri scoffs, tossing his bangs out of his eyes, probably trying very hard not to look outwardly pleased with his win. Yuri is going through that point in his life where the only two emotions he deems acceptable are snarls and determination, so Victor doesn’t comment on it. “Good luck on your own finals, jerk.”

“I’ve never needed luck to win,” He grins. Yuri just narrows his eyes at him.

“Well, your opponent seems to have a lot of it,” Yuri says, and when met with Victor’s blank face, rolls his eyes. “Let me guess. You haven’t been following the other battles at all, have you?”

“Nope.”

“And I bet you don’t even know who you’re battling against later.”

“Yep,” Victor says brightly. 

“You’re an idiot.”

“It’s not like it matters who it is,” He says, not out of arrogance, or anything, but simply out of experience. Victor never needed to know who he was up against since he always beat them. “They can’t be better than me. Unless you know something important that I don’t.”

“I know everything you don’t because you never pay attention to anything!”

“Yuri, keep talking like that and I might get the idea that you don’t like me,” Victor drapes himself over Yuri who starts yelling murder.

“I do! I hate you! Your match is starting soon, get the _fuck_ off of me, you’re the _worst_.”

-

Victor didn’t _plan_ on becoming a legendary Pokemon master. No, really. It quite honestly just happened. Victor was just good at a lot of things, as long as he had enough mind to pay attention for long enough. Much to the dismay of his maths tutor, he ended up focused on Pokemon and not, let’s say, long division. 

Everybody who played Pokemon wanted to be the very best, but it’s really a matter of perspective. Sure, you beat everybody in the game, but Victor was tiny and young and bored and figured that he could beat everybody outside the game too. So he went to the closest video game store, pulled himself up on the counter, ignored the indignant grumbling of the old guy restocking shelves, and challenged every sorry looking sap with a DS.

Hours later, after Victor, just ten at the time, had thoroughly trounced what seemed like more than a dozen twenty-somethings rather pissed with the fact that some brat at the store just fucked them up, the grumpy old guy at the counter spoke up.

“Hey,” He said. Later, Victor will learn his name is Yakov. “You’re good.”

“I am!” Victor grinned. Much later, Yakov would tell Victor that this was like seeing a demon changeling child smile at you as it caused you endless suffering.

“What do you think about fighting some people better than a bunch of nobodys in a video game store?”

A month later, Victor gets a B- in his final math report and the title of Junior World Pokemon VG Champion.

-

_“Welcome to the final event of the Pokemon Video Game World Championship, Masters Division! I’m your host—”_

Victor looks up from his phone to the screen where the commentators were beginning the event. Piqued by his conversation earlier with Yuri, he pays attention, curious over whoever it is exactly he’s going to be up against.

_”A lot of people here to watch today, Evan. Everybody’s sure that this battle will be an unforgettable one, given who our finalists are. Let’s take a look at them here on the screen.”_

Victor’s picture appears on the screen along with his team, Tyranitar, Salamence, Charizard, Garchomp, Lucario, and Mow Rotom.

 _”We’ve got returning legend and definite fan favorite, Victor Nikiforov, representing Russia! Now, everybody knows he’s a big deal, but why this is so is because of his win streak. Up on his previous accomplishments is a gold from the Juniors division years. He came back after a few years to snag first place again in the Seniors, and now he’s back at nineteen years old to complete the set with the Masters Division.”_

_”He’s certainly an incredible player, but his opponent might just give him a run for his money.”_

_”I totally agree. Victor’s opponent, seventeen year old Yuuri Katsuki representing Japan, is one of the most interesting players this championship has ever seen.”_

His opponent’s picture flashes on the screen, Yuuri Katsuki, and he looks downright adorable if not very, very nervous. Messy hair, brown eyes behind blue glasses frames, and an expression that looks as if the poor boy wasn’t given prior warning before the picture was taken. 

_”He sure is! Yuuri is a textbook dark horse with absolutely no prior accomplishments to boast of at all. No joke, he just came out of nowhere and annihilated every single player he fought against. It’s almost as if he entered this competition with the sole purpose of climbing to the top to go up against Victor himself.”_

_”We’ve got quite a few fans here for him. Some of the reason for that might be because of the unknown underdog story which everybody always loves, but he’s most known for his infamous Pachirisu.”_

Victor blinks and looks at the bottom corner of the screen where Yuuri’s team is displayed. Gothitelle, Gardevoir, Gyarados, Talonflame, Garchomp, and the tiny, almost defiant sprite of a Pachirisu. This is going to be a very interesting battle indeed.

_“Yes, everybody heard that right. Yuuri Katsuki has successfully brought a Pachirisu all the way to the finals, and the little guy is going to battle Nikiforov.”_

_”This is shaping up to be one hell of a match, and we haven’t even started yet. The living legend vs. the dark horse upstart. Let’s get right to the stage to introduce our players—”_

-

Victor walks onto the stage when his name is called and flashes his brightest smile for the loud cheers that erupt. He throws in a wink at the crowd because he can and because he likes the attention. If he plays up his image a little more than he strictly has to, well, nobody can blame him. He takes a seat when the commentators finally call the name of the man of the hour.

_”Let’s hear it for Yuuri Katsuki!”_

From the other side of the stage, Yuuri Katsuki walks out, shy and unassuming, and oh, he really is cute. The cheers from the crowd are loud, but when Yuuri raises his hand, sheepishly waving what looks like a small Pachirisu plush, it’s like he’s got a remote control for the volume because everybody goes nuts. Now _that_ is how you play a crowd.

“Hello,” Victor says brightly when Yuuri takes a seat across him. Yuuri whips his head up, seemingly surprised that another human being is speaking to him. It’s Victor’s first real look of him up close and it’s certainly something. His hair looks very soft and his eyes are much more beautiful in person. “I’m Victor.”

“I know,” Yuuri says, then stutters. “I mean! Because you’re my opponent of course! I’m Yuuri. Hi.”

Victor extends his hand across the table for a shake. “Good luck.”

“Thank you,” Yuuri says, taking Victor’s hand in a warm and strong grip. In his eyes, there’s a brief glint of something that isn’t nervousness. He smiles, small and hesitant. “But I don’t think I’ll be needing luck to beat you.”

Whatever Victor was expecting, it wasn’t _that_. While Victor’s face breaks into a grin, Yuuri’s brief moment of confidence seems to have passed. Yuuri pulls his hand away abruptly, going slightly red in the face, and occupies himself by...adjusting his Pachirisu plush so that it looks out to the crowd. It’s rather painstaking, what Yuuri is doing. The plush keeps falling over, so he removes his lanyard just to give it the support it needs. This takes three minutes.

It’s quite possibly the most endearing thing Victor has seen in his entire life.

He wants to talk to Yuuri, but this isn’t the place to do it. Right now, they are opponents. Two players who will battle until one comes out on top, so he pushes all the thoughts away for after. After is good.

The facilitator comes over and sits between them signalling the beginning of the match, and Victor thinks, _may the best player win_.

Yuuri sends out his first two pokemon, Gardevoir and Garchomp, and just a few moves in, Victor ends up with damage on both his pokemon, though thankfully without any KOs on his side. When Victor manages to take out Yuuri’s Gardevoir, urging him to bring out his Pachirisu much to the endless delight of the audience, Victor looks up from his DS.

Yuuri battling is a sight to behold. He’s focused, like the rest of the world doesn’t exist. For all that Yuuri is currently scribbling into the provided notebook with a Pokemon pen, he looks dead serious. He looks like he could murder Victor with that pen and Victor would say thank you. For all that Victor ends up dead in this metaphor, it’s a startlingly good look on Yuuri.

The Pachirisu, despite its cute, unassuming, and comically tiny sprite, is a goddamn monster. Strategically, its moves are genius in a sure but subtle way, dealing damage on stats instead of HP, changing the scenario of how attacks deal damage instead of rushing forward and dealing the damage itself. It suits Yuuri, which is ridiculous because Victor’s known Yuuri for roughly twenty minutes. To say he’s getting distracted might be an understatement.

Victor KOs the Pachirisu a few moves later, but not before the tiny savage had orchestrated a cataclysmic amount of carnage on his team. Yuuri’s scary focused look had begun to change into something else, a little bit farther from determined and more on the precipice of really fucking smug.

Slowly and much too late, Victor realizes that Yuuri battles like a good chess player; always moves ahead, more focused on winning the entire game and not just the turn. While for the most of the match, Victor seemed to have the advantage, Yuuri had been making his way through Victor’s team. Two of his Pokemon are gone while the other two are low HP. Yuuri still has a Garchomp at full health while all of Victor’s remaining team is one move away from a faint. He knows a lost battle when he sees one, and right now, Victor’s been backed into a corner he can’t get out of.

Yuuri tilts his head up, looks at Victor, and smirks.

Victor forfeits the match.

The audience goes nuts.

“You’re really something, huh?” Victor says, stunned in wonderment. Yuuri ducks his head slightly, and Victor feels something in his chest he’s never felt before. 

“You are too,” Yuuri says. “Good luck in the next match.”

“Am I gonna need it?” 

“Probably,” he says. “Because I sure don’t.”

Oh, it is _on_.

The next match begins immediately, and while Victor wasn’t pulling his punches in the last one, he’s definitely going to be more careful now. He’s careful not to fall into any of Yuuri’s traps. He actually uses the provided notebook to scrawl down a strategy. But even then, even though this match seems to be going better for Victor than the last one, the goddamn Pachirisu is sent out.

It’s a menace capable of thwarting anything Victor has planned, so he wants it out of the picture before the rest of his team faints. Victor lands a Draco Meteor onto Pachirisu, watches its HP landslide down and then

stop.

Yuuri’s Pachirisu just survived getting hit by a _meteor_.

Victor looks at the near soulless gaze of the Pachirisu as it gets its HP back up with a berry before looking at the determination in Yuuri’s face, still trained at his 3DS. There’s a likeness here. Yuuri could probably survive anything the world threw at him. It’s slightly terrifying but also Victor’s pretty sure he’s in love by this point. He’s already known Yuuri for thirty minutes, after all. It’s like a critical hit straight to his heart.

And to the last Pokemon on Victor’s team.

_”A K.O.! VICTOR’S MOW ROTOM IS DOWN FROM A CRITICAL HIT. A critical hit! You just saw it live, right here, folks. Yuuri Katsuki just defeated living legend Victor Nikiforov!”_

Victor, stunned, sits back and watches Yuuri as he grabs his Pachirisu plush and fists it into the air, urged on by the wild cheers of the audience. 

“Congratulations,” Victor says, shaking Yuuri’s hand, meaning it completely. This was a victory well won, so he can’t even find it in himself to be too miffed with losing for the first time in years. 

“Thanks,” Yuuri grins, giddy. Then, “Uh, sorry, too.” says the person who told Victor he’d need luck just minutes prior. “For breaking your win streak.”

“Don’t worry about it too much. I think there are some things a bit better than a gold,” Victor tells him.

“Uh,” Yuuri says, flushing.

Victor is still holding Yuuri’s hand. They are still in front of hundreds of people. Victor couldn’t care less, but Yuuri immediately darts backstage once the commentators are finished with their congratulations.

“Yuuri!” Victor catches up to where Yuuri had scuttled off. “Hey, are you busy after this?”

“You’re still talking to me,” says Yuuri with what seems to be disbelief. 

“Yes?” He says, because Yuuri is rather riveting but also confusing, so Victor can’t even be sure with a single word reply. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No!” He tells Victor. “Keep talking, if you want. I’m just going to mess up.”

“At what?”

“Talking? Conversing? Generally all of—” Yuuri makes a vague gesture to all of himself. 

“Well,” Victor says, “You’ve been doing a pretty great job, in my opinion. Are you busy after this?”

Yuuri blinks. “Not really.”

“Do you wanna go somewhere? Like hang out, or something?” He says, and Victor is very much encouraged by Yuuri’s sudden blushing. “Also can I have your number? Do you have a Twitter?”

“I—what?” Yuuri says. “What?” 

“That wasn’t really an answer to, well, anything.”

“No, I meant. What? As in, why?”

It’s still lacking the ideal amount of words present in a conversation that’s actually communicating clear ideas, but Victor will take it. This much he owes to the boy who just annihilated him at his own game in front of countless spectators.

“You seem cool, you’re really good at something I’m also good at, and your strategic moves in the second match were incredible,” Victors counts off on his fingers, vaguely aware that this probably wasn’t how people made friends, but he’ll cross that bridge when he gets there. He fishes the Pokemon pen from out of his pocket and takes Yuuri’s arm. “I wanna be your friend. Here! You can have my number.”

Yuuri emits a soft, high pitched sound, but nonetheless lets Victor write his number down on his arm.

“You have really pretty eyes too, you know?” Victor says.

“Oh my god, shut up!” Yuuri shoves his Pachirisu plush into Victor’s face and Victor can’t help but laugh. “Now you’re just messing with me,” he says, but he’s grinning too.

“I swear, I’m not,” Victor says, trying to school his expression into something as cute as the Pachirisu he’s holding in an attempt to win Yuuri over. “Where did that confident monster I just battled run off too?”

“Yeah, sorry. I get like that when I’m in the zone,” Yuuri scratches the back of his head. “Most of the time I’m just like—this.”

“I like this too,” Victor tells him.

“Oh,” Yuuri says. He looks like he’s about to say something else, but they’re interrupted by a tiny blond goblin that tackles Victor with a running start.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU FUCKING LOST TO A NOBODY WITH MY NAME,” Yuri says loud enough to be heard by Victor, Yuuri, and probably everybody else in the venue with functioning auditory senses. How he got backstage, Victor doesn’t know, but he figures that whatever security there is around here just didn’t have the heart to deny a seething ball of rage whatever he wanted.

“Uh,” Yuuri says over Yuri continuing to yell various things. “I’m gonna go.”

“No, wait!” Victor pries Yuri off of him much to Yuri’s eternal pre-pubescent rage.

“I’ll text you!” He tells him, awkwardly shuffling away a few inches. “I promise.”

“But your Pachirisu,” Victor waves it around.

“Return it to me later,” Yuuri says.

“So there’s gonna be a later?”

“Yeah,” Yuuri says, a smidge of his confidence tinging his voice. “Yeah, there will.”

“EXCUSE ME I’M STILL HERE,” Yuri fumes, and Yuuri takes that as his cue to get away safely. 

“I’m very aware, Yuri. Oh dear, that’s going to get confusing.” Victor chuckles, cuddling the Pachirisu his chest.

Yuri squints at him, disgusted in the way that only small children can really achieve, and says “Did he beat your brains out too?”

“No, but he might’ve stolen my heart,” Victor says because he loves cheesy shit like that, because it feels rather true, and because he knew it would urge Yuri to make up a new and hilarious sound of outrage.

“I didn’t hear that! Oh my god, I didn’t hear that! I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you. You _lost_.”

“Yeah,” Victor shrugs. For somebody who’s spent his entire Pokemon career winning, he isn’t too bothered by it. There are things better than winning, he figures, hugging the Pachirisu toy. Right now, the only thing he’s really interested in is when Yuuri texts him, and what would be cool to possibly send back.

**Author's Note:**

> im [actualbird](http://actualbird.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. i hope you had fun!!!


End file.
